Four years ago, a mentally ill woman brought a legally purchased gun to Ashley Hall in Charleston, intending to shoot and kill. She failed to properly operate the firearm, so no one was harmed, thank God. But she should never have had a gun in the first place. Even Lindsey Graham said that we needed to fix the background check system so that someone like her would be unable to purchase a firearm. Last year, the Obama Administration issued a regulation to improve the background check system by requiring the Social Security Administration to share information with the FBI to help them better identify who should be barred from buying a gun under current law. This approach is 100% in line with South Carolina Republicans’ previous statements that they want to improve the existing background check system without enacting any new legal restrictions.
Here’s something Donald Trump and the rubber-stamp Republican Congress don’t want you to know: this week, Trump signed legislation repealing the Obama Administration rule. And despite their previous statements of support for strengthening the background check system, all South Carolina Republicans voted for the repeal.
So from now on, when South Carolina Republicans claim they don’t support new gun safety laws but simply want to make the ones already on the books work better, just remember: actions speak louder than words, and all of them showed by their actions that they are just fine with mentally ill people buying guns.
Enjoy the beautiful weekend, and keep up the resistance.
